Key SEO Statistics, Facts & Trends You Must Know

The digital marketing industry is booming and Search Engine Optimization plays a crucial role in the digital marketing world. It’s not just SEO but also voice search optimization and mobile-first indexing that also helps in enhancing the website visibility and its performance on the Search Engine Result Page (SERPs). 

The SEO landscape is also changing because of Voice Search Optimization as it requires businesses to optimize for natural language queries. Furthermore, mobile optimization is important for SEO success due to Google's mobile-first indexing. 

Understanding the significance of featured snippets and the impact of high-quality relevant content is important for search rankings. These insights can help drive higher click-through rates and enhance user engagement. Furthermore, optimizing for local SEO can impact your business in several ways including the increase of daily store visits. 

These are just a few SEO statistics that can help businesses to position themselves for success in this competitive digital realm. 

Image source: https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-statistics/

Top 70 SEO Statistics that you must know

The SEO technology will keep on evolving with the search engine. While there’s no such exact formula to get SEO techniques, it’s the latest research on updates that makes your page rank on Google. 

We have explored the top 70 SEO Statistics that have worked for various businesses and they have been categorized into different sections. Take a look at them below- 

1. Less than 1% of people go beyond the first page of the search result (Backlinko 2023).

2. Pages with the highest number of total backlinks tend to well on search engines (Backlinko 2020)

3. More than 70% of online shoppers use their smartphones to purchase products (Semrush 2023).

4. Organic search is the primary source of traffic for most websites (Hubspot 2023). 

5. Approximately 36% of Americans own a voice-activated smart device (Edison Res 2023). 

6. Long-tail keywords dominate the majority of searches on Google (Semrush 2022). 

7. Before visiting a local business, around 98% of total consumers read online reviews (BrightLocal 2023). 

8. A record-high 91% of businesses utilize video as a part of their marketing strategy (Wyzowl 2023). 

9. Approximately 57% of B2B sellers believe that their marketing content is too generic (McKinsey 2022).

10. Nearly 70% of online shoppers use the search bar when browsing e-commerce sites (Nosto 2023).

11. 88% of marketers who invest in SEO plan to increase or maintain their spending in 2023 (Hubspot 2023). 

Google Search Engine Usage Statistics 

Searchers mostly visit Google when they need to search for anything and here are some search engine statistics that can give us an insight into this- 

12. 73% of clicks go through organic web-listings (BrightEdge 2022). 

13. Consumer search engine usage is increasing by 20% annually. (BrightEdge 2022).

14. 64.82% of Google searches were on mobile and desktop in the year 2020 which resulted in zero-click searches i.e., users didn’t click on any search result. (SparkToro 2021).

15. In the year 2022, search traffic for electronics, beauty, media, and food industries increased while it decreased for service, technology, and fashion industries. (Semrush 2023).

16. Google dominates with over 90% of the global search engine market share. Yahoo!, Yandex, and Baidu each have a market share of around 1%, while Bing is far behind with less than 3% (Statcounter 2023). 

17. Approximately 15% of Google searches are entirely new queries, reflecting the ever-evolving nature of user search behaviour (Google 2022). 

18. There was a significant 183% increase in the “computer and video games” category in 2022 (Semrush 2023). 

19. Its popularity and interest among users showed in 2022 when it became the top-searched keyword (Google 2022). 

Backlink Statistics

Some Backlink Statistics are as follows- 

20. There was at least one backlink on almost all (92.3%) of the top 100-ranking domains during a 13-month study by Semrush (Semrush 2023). 

21. The same study found that more than half of the qualified sites without any backlinks did not reach the first page (Semrush 2023). 

22. Those in the top ten positions on Google have an average of 3.8 times as many backlinks as those in the second ten positions (Backlinko 2020). 

23. The average number of backlinks gained by long-form content is 77.2% higher than those achieved by shorter articles, according to an older study (Backlinko 2019). 

24. Approximately 94% of all existing blog posts have no external links (Backlinko 2019). 

Image source: https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-statistics/

25. The same principle applies to 2019: pages with a higher ranking have more backlinks than pages with a lower ranking (Backlinko 2019). 

26. In the opinion of about 67.5% of SEO experts, backlinks are important for search engine optimization (uSERP 2022). 

27. The average link-building budget is between $5,000 and $10,000 per month for SEO professionals (uSERP 2022). 

28. A study conducted by Backlinko found that emails that "feel" (outreach without requesting a backlink) resulted in a 40% increase in conversions (Backlinko 2023). 

Ranking, First Page SERP, and Click-Through Rating 

Organic traffic is gained when more people see and click on your content. 

29. Organic search is the primary traffic source of every webpage (HubSpot 2022). 

30. 39.5% organic traffic can be achieved by pages that rank in the top position on the first page of Google (First Page Sage 2023). 

31. In organic search results, the top three results garner over two-thirds of all clicks (68.7%) (First page Sage 2023). 

32. The overall highest click-through rate is of Snippet at 42.9% (First Page Sage 2023). 

33. 19 times more clicks are generated by organic search results than by paid search results (First Page Sage 2023). 

34. A combined number of clicks from the third to tenth search results is lower than those from the top organic search results (First Page Sage 2023). 

35. It is 10 times more likely that the first organic result on Google will receive a click than the page at the bottom of the list (Backlinko 2023). 

36. The number of new domains that appear in search engine results pages (SERPs) increased by about 28% in 2022 over the previous year (Semrush 2023). 

37. Semrush reported that during the 13-month study period, only 7.65% of domains maintained their top 100 rankings (Semrush 2023). 

38. A drop in Google search traffic of 89% was observed at websites that received multiple valid removal notices (Google 2022). 

Keyword Statistics

Keyword reach is crucial while creating high-quality content and getting ranked on the first page- 

39. There’s almost zero correlation between using a keyword in your title tag and ranking higher in the SERP (Backlinko 2020). 

40. Longer keywords of approximately 10 to 15 words get 1.76x more clicks than single-word terms (Backlinko 2023). 

41. Posts that include target keywords or related terms in the URL experience a 45% higher click-through rate compared to those without (Backlinko 2023). 

42. Titles with a positive sentiment enjoy a 4% higher click-through rate (Backlinko 2023). 

43. Searches with short-tail keywords (one or two keywords with high search volume) now have informational results as the top-ranking results (Conductor 2023). 

44. The volatility of the search engine results page (SERP) for specific keywords in 2022 was greater than in 2021 (Semrush 2023). 

45. The majority of all searches in Google consist of long-tail keywords (Semrush 2022). 

Image source: https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-statistics/

Mobile Search Statistics

A major chunk of people use their mobile phones to search for things and Google uses its site’s mobile version for indexing and ranking. 

46. There are around 5.44 billion unique mobile phone users globally (We Are Social 2023). 

47. Nearly 96% of internet users are between the age group of 16 to 64 who own a smartphone (We Are Social 2023). 

48. Around 57% of users conduct their local search queries using a mobile device or tablet (ReviewTrackers 2022). 

49. At 41%, mobile devices account for the largest share of web traffic (HubSpot 2022). 

50. Shopping online with a smartphone is popular with more than 70% of purchasers (Semrush 2023). 

51. Mobile traffic experienced a decline in the summer of 2022 but has since recovered (Semrush 2023).

52.  The most common feature in SERP is Related Searches (Semrush 2023). 

53. There was a 17% increase in Popular Products appearing in mobile SERPs in 2022 as compared to last year (Semrush 2023). 

Voice Search Statistics

Voice SEO increases the chances of ranking highly when users ask questions to voice assistants like Alexa or Google Nest. 

54. About 36% of Americans own a smart speaker (Edison Research 2023). 

55. Amazon is the leading player in the smart speaker market in the US (Statista 2023). 

56. Half of US consumers utilize voice search daily (UpCity 2022). 

57. The daily voice search is around 58% for US consumers of the age group of 25 to 34 (UpCity 2022). 

58. Searches for the weather and local information are the most common uses of voice search (UpCity 2022). 

59. A total of 8.9 million health and beauty products were purchased through smart speakers from August 2019 to August 2021 (Comscore 2021). 

60. Approximately 90% of voice search users conduct searches in English (UpCity 2022). 

Video SEO Statistics

The process of optimizing your video content for higher visibility and ranking is called video SEO. 

61. Around 91% of companies are now using video as a marketing tool (Wyzowl 2023). 

62. Approximately 70% of marketers who had not yet used video planned to start in 2023 (Wyzowl 2023).

63. Video marketers use YouTube more than 90% of the time for video marketing. Additionally, 86% use Facebook, while 79% use Instagram and LinkedIn (Wyzowl 2023)

64.  TikTok Mashup 2022 was the most searched-for video on YouTube in 2022, followed by "Ukraine" in the rest of the world (Semrush 2022). 

Local SEO Statistics

With the help of local SEO, a business’s online presence, visibility, traffic, and brand awareness is increased. 

65. Local businesses receive 98% of their business from online reviews (BrightLocal 2023). 

66. According to Google Search, 87% of consumers conducted local business research in 2022, up 6% from 2021 (BrightLocal 2023). 

67. A complete Business Profile on Google Maps and Search makes a business appear 2.7 times more reputable to customers. 

68. Customers are 70% more likely to visit businesses with a complete Business Profile, and 50% more likely to consider purchasing from them. 

69. Google Maps searches for "shopping near me" have doubled worldwide year over year. 

70. Consumers looking for reviews of local businesses across all industries trust Google most. 

Conclusion

The statistics and trends discussed above highlight the ever-evolving landscape of the digital realm. All these digital marketing strategies, if followed, can grow your overall business. 

From the overwhelming use of video marketing, with 91% of companies utilizing it as a marketing tool, to the increasing adoption of voice search, which sees around 70% of marketers planning to start using it in 2023, the need for businesses to stay abreast of these trends is evident.

Moreover, the power of online reviews cannot be underestimated, as 98% of people read them for local businesses, emphasizing the significance of maintaining a positive online reputation.

Google continues to be a dominant force in the digital marketing realm, with 87% of consumers researching local businesses using Google Search in 2022, and Google Maps witnessing a significant increase in "shopping near me" searches year over year.

In conclusion, businesses that adapt to these trends and leverage them in their marketing strategies are likely to see increased visibility, customer engagement, and ultimately, success in the digital landscape.